Upper Grand working at Bill 13, the latest anti-bullying legislation

GUELPH — The Upper Grand District School Board has a lot of work to do to implement the policies set out in Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, that passed at Queen’s Park last spring.

Superintendent Brent McDonald laid out the work that’s already been done and what’s still ahead to trustees at the board’s program committee meeting Tuesday night.

McDonald said Bill 13 builds on Bill 157, the Keeping Our Kids Safe at School Act that was passed in 2009 and was the first legislation to really address bullying in schools. The board is still waiting for the Policy/Program Memoranda from the Ministry of Education, which will provide school boards with a specific blue print for action.

But already principals are poised to have conversations with their parent councils, teachers and school staff, McDonald said, so everyone has the same information and expectations about what’s required and what protections are given to students who are bullied.

And there’s been training, and will be more training, so staff know how to respond when a child says he was bullied on the playground.

“In the past five years, there’s been a shift,” McDonald said. “I think what we’re realizing is that there needs to be a whole school approach, but there needs to be buy-in from the community too. Bullying is not just a school issue; it’s a community issue too.”

Bill 13 defines bullying as aggressive, repeated behaviour that causes harm, fear or distress to another individual. The behaviour occurs in the context of a real or perceived power imbalance.

Bullying can be physical, verbal, social/emotional or through electronic means. Bystanders contribute by either doing nothing to stop it, or by becoming actively involved in supporting it.

All schools in the board have to have bullying prevention plans and Bill 13 must be posted on all school websites. Superintendents go over these plans with school principals when they do their school inspections in the fall.

The bill also calls for boards to host Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week activities during the third week in November. This has already been observed at the Upper Grand and many schools participate in the Speak Out campaign with students sporting pink T-shirts.

The board conducted a school climate survey last spring and learned that 23 per cent of students from Grade 7 to Grade 12 don’t feel safe in school hallways and 24 per cent don’t feel safe outside while on school property.

“We know those are areas where most bullying occurs,” McDonald said. “They are also places where teachers have less control and presence.”

Some 40 per cent of students from Grades 4 to 6 stated that they haven’t witnessed a bullying incident, and 100 per cent said they’d report bullying if they saw it happening.

Parents were also surveyed and, while a majority was aware of the procedures for reporting, about a third said they didn’t know how to report an incident.

“That’s troubling because a third is still a large number,” McDonald said.

He said next steps for the board are to monitor schools and ensure bullying prevention plans are part of school improvement plans; to form subcommittees to get into the meat of the legislation when the government releases a template for planning; and to train staff on how to recognize and respond to bullying behaviour.

Boards have until Feb. 1 to get their bullying prevention policies in place.

Trustee Kathryn Cooper asked about jurisdiction if bullying occurs on a school bus.

“That falls in our purview too,” McDonald said. “We have a tracking system and bus drivers have a duty to report.”

“I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this,” said trustee Susan Moziar. “It’s not too easy to solve.”